August 7, 2011

The @-symbol, part 2 of 2

Before its ascent to accidental stardom,

the @ went almost unremarked for centuries. Widely used to mean "at the rate of" -- for example, "3 apples @ $1 each" -- the symbol lived out a useful but mundane existence in the world of commerce, rarely warranting a second glance from paleographers or philologists. Even now, when it has been propelled firmly into the limelight by the email's meteoric rise, credible accounts of the symbol's visual appearance and meaning remain surprisingly thin on the ground. -- Shady Characters